


Secrets out

by Daily_Scenarios



Series: Fixing shit canon [7]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt, Light Angst, M/M, and that's one way of putting it, secrets out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 22:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily_Scenarios/pseuds/Daily_Scenarios
Summary: the family tries to figure out a way to help Aaron, meanwhile, Clive has a chat with Rebecca about a legal document.the secret is revealed, but what will happen if others learn the truth?
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: Fixing shit canon [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106672
Comments: 25
Kudos: 92





	Secrets out

Robert lay on his bed, after a sleepless night, waiting for the usual morning routine to start. He would lie if he said he got used to it, but he certainly knew when would things happen, and it gave him time to think about how his day would go. Not that it was very exciting. He looked at the clock and sighed. Five more minutes and the day would start. And he hadn’t slept a wink. How could he? After learning the truth about what Aaron has to go through every day…. the fact that he can’t see Seb….it just made him angrier. If Rebecca was here he would be surely shouting her head off. They had a deal. He threw away everything because they had a deal. And now the only thing he wanted, the only reason he agreed to that deal…. was not happening. Because Aaron was miserable when he wanted nothing but for him to be happy. Well as happy as someone can be under these circumstances. He hoped Clive could solve this. He needed him to solve this. And quick.

* * *

“So? I take it, it went brilliantly, looking at your faces.” – snorted Chas from behind the bar when she saw Faith and Diane enter.

“Let’s go through the back.” – suggested Diane and Chas only nodded before she asked Paddy to mind the bar, not that the few people lingering in the pub would hear much but still. This was a private matter.

“But-but I’m on me lunch break!” – she heard Paddy, but she didn’t really care. She wanted to know how the visit went, even though it was clearly not a success.

“So?” – she asked as soon as she closed the door. – “What happened? She made a scene?”

“You could say that.” – murmured Faith while Diane tried to get her thoughts together.

“I just hope Seb didn’t have to hear all that.” – said Chas.

“I was with him.” – piped up Faith. – “Oh Chas, he’s such a wonderful little lad.” – she smiled and for a second it made Chas smile as well.

“So-sorry.” – entered Paddy out of the blue. – “But what’s going on? Does anybody want to tell me, be-because I have a bad feeling about all of this.” – he said pointing to the three of them.

“Just go back to the bar Paddy, I tell you later.”

“No, you’re telling me now, because later you’re gonna make an excuse and then I’ll never know.” – he said a bit upset.

“Who’s at the bar?” – asked Faith.

“Like you care.”– snorted Paddy in that high-pitched voice that drove everybody mad.

“Oi!” – yelled Chas. – “Go back, and serve that 3 people because we need the money. In case you don’t know the business is struggling.” – she said and it was true.

“They’re all waiting for their food. Marlon’s packing it, he can deal with them. It’s not like they can have a drink right now.”– he said. – “So, I’m staying.” – he said being confident for once.

“I guess he has to know sooner or later.” – said Chas giving up. – “You better start talking now.”

* * *

Over at the yard, Aaron was actually working. Well… sort of. He was beating the crap out of a car, because…. he felt like it.

“Oi.” – said Vinny getting closer. Aaron didn’t seem to hear him. He just kept wrecking that car, like a madman. – “Hey Aaron!” – shouted Vinny louder this time, finally getting his attention. – “What’s that car done to ya?” – he asked laughing.

“What? Nothing.” – he shrugged before he kicked the tire.

“Are you alright?”

“Just mind your own business Vinny alright?” – he said, and although Vinny knew it was risky he still couldn’t help but reply.

“You know if you wanna talk about….”

“I don’t, alright.” – he shouted– “Sorry, it’s just… been a tough week.” – sighed Aaron as he rubbed his face feeling like he hasn’t slept at least for a week. Maybe that was true. 

“Mate, it’s only Tuesday.” – said Vinny looking actually concerned.

“Really?” – asked Aaron genuinely surprised. – “Seemed like a Thursday more like.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” – he asked again.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But if you ask it one more time I swear…”

“Okay, okay.” – said Vinny quickly before Aaron really loses his temper. – “D’ya want a hand with that?” – he gestured to the car.

“No, actually I don’t really need you today, so you can go.”

“You sure?”

“Vinny….” - started Aaron getting fed up.

“Alright, I’m going. Just call me if you change your mind.” – he said. Aaron didn’t answer just nodded before he got back to the destruction. Vinny didn’t like the state Aaron was in. He knew better than to stick around and get him angry, but he still wanted to help. He called the only person he could think of. – “Hi Liv, erm… do you know what’s going on with your brother?”

* * *

“Hey.” – said Liv as she spotted Aaron at the yard.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have some… zoom thingy?”

“Yeah nice one.” – she laughed. – “Fortunately it ended early so I’m here asking if you’d want something to eat, or is it gonna be a liquid lunch again?” – she asked with sarcasm dripping from her every word. She was right though. She didn’t know what happened but she knew something was up. Aaron started drinking again… he wasn’t in a mood like this ever since….. ever since Robert went to prison really. And Liv had no idea what brought this on. She knew about the family drama with Faith, and Cain being mad, but that cannot be it. In the past two or so weeks it seemed like Aaron was drifting away from her, away from the whole family. Being in a mood all day every day. She felt like she just couldn’t talk to him anymore. – “Don’t look at me like that.” – she said when she noticed Aaron looking at her like she had two heads. – “What’s going on with ya?”

“Nothing.” – he shrugged before he decided to get back to the portacabin.

“Everybody can see it. They just don’t wanna get into a pointless argument with you.”

“Yeah? Well good. You shouldn’t either.” – he said as he busied himself with getting the papers sorted on his desk. – “Just go home.”

“Aaron…”

“I’m alright Liv.” – he said not being very convincing. – “Okay? I just… I wanna work. Just let me.” – he said turning his back to her before he accidentally brushed a few papers off the table. Liv picked them up, and among the business papers, there was a photograph. Liv knew it well, they had an identical one in the Mill. Well, she didn’t know where it was now, but before…. before it was on the mantlepiece. It was a family photo. Aaron and Robert, with Seb. All smiling into the camera. Seb’s gummy smile made it hard to not think of all the fond memories. She quickly pocketed the photo, got the papers back on the table, and waited for Aaron to turn around. He didn’t.

“Okay.” – she said finally. – “I’m going. Please try and be at least half sober when you do come home. If you remember the way.” – she said before she left shutting the door on her way out. Aaron immediately regretted the way he spoke, or rather didn’t speak to her, but he just wanted to be alone. He couldn’t focus on the job. He didn’t want to go home either. He just wanted everything to stop for a second. Seeing Seb again…. it was hard. Of course, he saw him before, when Diane managed to get him away from Liverpool, but this was different. Talking to him, actually talking to him…. it brought back so many memories. Memories of Robert, of their family…. and knowing it was all ruined now? Yeah, it hurt. So as much as he loved seeing Seb, it felt like torture. Knowing that Rebecca won’t allow him to be a part of his life… it just all hurt too much. 

* * *

“You what?” – asked Paddy the third time in a row. – “You went to Rebecca, to try and convince her, so Aaron could see Seb….. because you….” – he said pointing at Diane – “… faked a breakdown and called Aaron when you were with Seb and now he wants to see Aaron again?”

“In a nutshell.” – nodded Diane.

“That’s insane.” - gasped Paddy. – “And you knew?” – he asked Chas.

“Well….”

“What did he even do to get Seb hooked anyway?” – he asked still trying to get his head around it.

“He didn’t do anything.” – shrugged Diane. – “They just clicked.”

“You know how he is with kids.” – said Chas and Paddy had to agree.

“So that’s why he’s been this grumpy?”

“He’s not just grumpy.” – said Liv bursting into the room obviously hearing some of the conversation. – “He’s not himself. He’s drinking, he’s…. he’s a mess Chas.” – she said directly to Chas.

“We need to convince Rebecca.” – said Faith.

“And how do you wanna do that? What if it doesn’t work? He’s not coping as it is.” – said Liv.

“Did something happen?” – asked Chas getting suspicious.

“Vinny called. He… saw Aaron smashing up a car…”

“So? it’s what he does at the yard.” – said Paddy.

“Yeah but there was… something odd about it. Like he was angry at the world or something and wanted to get his anger out on that car.”

“I told you.” – said Faith – “He needs help.”

“Wow mother, nice. We never thought of that.” – said Chas.

“Well, I don’t see any of you coming up with ideas. I had a plan.”

“And a lot good it did.” – fired back Chas. – “Has Rebecca changed her mind? Hmm? No.”

“Not yet…” - said Faith.

“You want to go back?”

“Yeah. And if it doesn’t work I’ll go back again. Until she’ll see sense.”

“Good luck with that.” – laughed Liv. – “He really misses Seb though. I found this at the yard. He has it on his desk.” – she said reaching out to give the picture to Chas.

“Aww look at them.” – she smiled – “They were so happy.” – she said with a sad smile. – “Okay tell me again, how can we help? Because we need a good plan. Not just an idea. If we do this, we need to do it right.” - they gathered around the table and started thinking, completely unaware that a really difficult conversation was about to happen in Liverpool at any minute.

* * *

“I would advise you to listen to me.” – said Clive when Rebecca was about to shut the door into his face.

“Why should I? He sent you, didn’t he? Or was it Diane? They must be all in on it.” – she said mainly to herself. Clive just cleared his throat, asking again if he could come inside.

“This isn’t the sort of conversation we can have on your doorstep, so, if you would be so kind and let me in.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll tell you after you let me in. Believe me, you would really want to listen to this, because it’s about your son and what’s best for him.” – he said with a convincing tone, so after a few seconds, Rebecca opened the door.

“So what do you want?” – she asked. – “Be quick, I’ll have to get my son from nursery in a bit.”

“Alright, I’ll be as quick as possible, even quicker if you will cooperate. Because that’s what you and my client had in agreement if I’m not mistaken.”

“What agreement?” – she asked with a blank face.

“Miss White, I would like to remind you of the document you signed on the 2nd of November 2019.” – he said reaching into his briefcase to get a copy out. – “That’s your signature, right?” – he said showing it to her.

“That’s not… I don’t remember signing anything.” – she said with an attitude.

“That’s too bad because I have a video recording of the event, also I was present."

"I'm sure I didn't allow...."

"You did, and you'll find that on the first page. I believe it's actually the second sentence." - said Clive. After a minute of silence, he continued - "You came to my office, after reaching an agreement with Mr. Sugden.” – he said while Rebecca read through the paper in front of her, acting like she’s never seen it before.

“So what? He's not here not that it matters, I wouldn't let my child anywhere near him. He killed a man!” – she said and Clive almost took a double-take. It had nothing to do with what this was about. Rebecca’s behavior was truly worrying. It was like she didn’t know how to separate certain events from the past.

“Miss White, although you're allowed to have an opinion on my client's actions, we're talking about Mr. Dingle here, and the legal arrangement you have with Robert.” – said Clive making it clear why he was there.

“Aaron?” – asked back Rebecca.

“Yes. As you can see on the top of the second page, Robert agreed to your conditions, in order to get access to Seb for Mr. Dingle.”

“No, Aaron can’t take my son away.” – said Rebecca not even listening to the solicitor.

“This arrangement isn’t suggesting such a thing. But it does say that after Robert completed his end of the deal, you should’ve let Mr. Dingle visit Seb regularly. Guarantee him to have Seb over the weekends…..”

“No.” – she said interrupting him like she couldn’t believe what was written on those pages.

“Miss White, you agreed….”

“I don’t care.” – she said repeating herself, and Clive had no other choice but to remind her exactly what kind of a deal they made. 

“Robert did what you wanted. You said you won’t allow Mr. Dingle to see Seb after Robert went to prison, because you feared they would take legal actions, and Mr. Dingle being Robert’s husband, would get some sort of shared custody. You convinced Robert to divorce Mr. Dingle because then you’ll allow him to see Seb over the weekends. After he wouldn’t have any legal bond with the child. You said only this way you can be sure to have control over the situation.”

“I…. I….”

“You signed this document with your own hand, and I have a video recording of you admitting that these were in fact the terms of the deal. You gave your word, and now it turns out not only you didn’t keep it, but now you don’t even want to acknowledge making this agreement?”

“You can’t force me….” – said Rebecca panicking. Clive could see that she wasn’t in her right mind.

“No, and I don’t wish to.” – he said calmly. – “But if you continue breaking the contract I’m afraid you give us no choice but to take this to court.”

“I bet he enjoys this.” – she said and Clive didn’t know if she was talking about Robert or Aaron or… just someone else. – “He never wanted me to take Seb. He kidnapped him once, did you know that?” – and yes she was talking about Aaron.

“Do you have proof of that?”

“No, but I know.” – she said.

“I don’t think it would interest the court.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. It’s just a reminder of what will happen if you keep denying Mr. Dingle access to the child.”

“Get out.” – she said and Clive could tell she was angry. – “GET OUT.” – she shouted again. Clive didn’t want to make things worse so he got to the door.

“The copy is yours in case you don’t have the original.” – he said looking at the paper lying on the table – “Just think ab…” - he started when Rebecca shut the door in his face. He didn’t like her attitude, but what was more concerning was the state of her mind. Clive didn’t think she had a clear head. Suddenly he got a bad feeling, and he thought of Seb. This woman will go out to pick him up in a matter of minutes and he was worried about what would happen if she gets confused even more. It was clear that she didn’t remember things that happened in the past, she got confused on several occasions. He sighed and as he climbed back to his car he dialed a number. – “Hi, yes Kevin, it’s Clive. I know you guys are busy but I need a favor. I have serious concerns over a child. Well, his mother really. I just want you to keep an eye on them. Yes, they live alone, and the mother has…. memory issues. No, I don’t actually know about her medication. I just spoke to her but she was…. yes. No, he’s in nursery but she’s gonna pick him up. Okay, Liverpool … oh yes that’s it. You’re sending someone? That’s a relief. Rebecca White, yeah, and he’s Sebastien, Seb White. Cheers mate I’m grateful. Oh, I’d try the grandmother. Diane Sugden. I have as a matter of fact. Alright, I send it, thank you.”– he said ending the call. He had to involve social services. He couldn’t let Rebecca get Seb in a state like that. His conscience didn’t let him. Knowing that his friends will take care of Seb got him relieved, but he still had no idea how to present this to Robert.

**Author's Note:**

> and the drama continues but now we know what's happened between Robert and Rebecca, what kind of a deal they made when Robert went to prison. what will happen if Aaron hears about it? 
> 
> tell me what you think, I hope you'll enjoy this :)


End file.
